The present invention generally relates to tracking systems, and more specifically, but not exclusively, concerns a tracking system that is able to track home parolees and other similar individuals inside or outside of buildings.
With increased prison population, governments have been trying alternate ways of incarcerating criminals. One popular program is a “house” arrest program for parolees and non-violent offenders. In one such a system, the monitored person wears an ankle bracelet or some other device that ensures the monitored person is able to freely move within a confined geographic area, such as a house. One problem faced with such systems is to be able to accurately determine the location of the monitored individual so as to reduce the number of “false alarms” in which the location of the monitored individual is temporarily lost even though the monitored person remains in the confined location. Due to structures, such as walls of buildings, signals from the locating device may become blocked such that the monitored person has “disappeared” with respect to the locating system.
Another area in the criminal justice system where location of individuals is a concern is in the area of restraining orders. Since the location of the person against whom a restraining order has been issued is usually unknown, the person who obtained the restraining order faces the constant fear that the order could be violated at any time. Due to limited police resources, a large number of restraining order violations can occur without the police even detecting the violation. Even when police are aware of a violation, it takes time for the police to respond to the violation, while the potential victim or at risk person might not be even aware of the violation.
U.S. patent application Publication US 2002/0024443 A1 to Hawkins et al., published Feb. 28, 2002 (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/940,905, filed Aug. 27, 2001), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses an automated tracking that uses “fuzzy logic” in determining whether to record location information about a tracked person. Since locations in such a system are recorded a periodically and due to the complexity involve with a fuzzy logic system, there remains a significant risk that a tracked person can circumvent such a system and remain undetected during a violation. Moreover, the Hawkins system fails to address potential privacy concerns when transmitting information over a publicly accessible network, such as wireless telephone network and/or a computer network. The lives of tracked individuals may be placed in danger when their location can be easily determined.
Another concern for personal tracking systems is to have the ability to directly communicate with the monitored person. For example, the monitored person may have a low battery in their device or some other malfunction and therefore, need to directly communicate with the specific personnel to let them know of the problem. Moreover, a parole officer at times may want to speak with a parolee so as to check their status as to specific meetings and/or parole violations. In prior tracking systems, although information could be received from the monitored individual, such as status information, there was no ability to directly communicate with a monitored individual and/or broadcast messages to selected groups of monitored individuals.
Thus, there remains a need for an improved technique and system for tracking individuals.